Quiet Beginning
by DSieya
Summary: Four boys sat in compartment number twenty nine. [oneshot, marauders meeting fic, not supporting noncanon pairings]


_wow, i'm really churning out these marauder fics, aren't i?_

_i dunno. for a cheesey explanation, i believe that friendship is the most powerful relationship that two (or more!) people can have -- yeah, there's love, blahblah, but what's love without a solid friendship behind it? (r/hr, anyone?) so, anyway, here comes another friendship fic. p/s: my sister practically blew up my computer, and this one doesn't have either openoffice or word... so if there's any errors, forgive me._

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There were four boys in compartment number twenty-nine.

And they were all small and skinny, which was fortunate because one of them was stretched across a seat for two and forced the other three to squeeze into the opposite seat.

None of them were talking; one was reading, one was looking out the window, one had his eyes closed (it was impossible to tell whether he was asleep or not), and one was sitting rather awkwardly, squeezed in the middle.

And these four boys, squeezed rather unevenly into compartment number twenty-nine, were all rather nervous and friendless, but simple pride kept each of them from trying to make friends.

Presently, the one with his eyes closed woke up (if, of course, he had been sleeping at all) because the candy trolley was passing and he was very hungry, being a growing boy and all. The one who had been staring out the window stood slowly, squeezing past the others and sticking his hand in his pocket to pull out some gold.

And the eleven year-old who may have just woken up said, 'Hey.' And the one at the trolley with glasses responded, 'Yeah?' And the other brushed his black hair out of his eyes and tossed the bespectacled one a gold Galleon.

'Gemme some of them Chocolate Frogs.'

He shrugged, and obliged, and gave the seat-hogger both his candy and his change and then made back with his own small mound of sweets.

'Thanks,' he mumbled, half-way sitting up with one foot still on the empty seat as an unsilent statement that _that_ seat was _his_.

Finally, the boy who had bought the candy gathered up enough courage to introduce himself to the compartment as James Potter.

The other, through a mouthful of chocolate, called himself Sirius Black. There was a slight mixup over the hononym 'serious', of course, but they got it straight presently enough.

And then, as expected, a slight coldness fell over compartment twenty-nine because who hasn't heard of the infamous Black family?

For another hour, things were quiet (not including the crinkle of candy wrappers and the sound of chewing and the slight _flap_ of the pale one turning pages). Sirius Black fell asleep (again?) and his head was leaning against the window that James Potter was busy staring out of.

'Are you all first years, too?' finally asked a quiet voice; two turned around to see the one with brown hair close his book (_Hogwarts, A History_) and finally look up. They both murmured their assent, except for Sirius who just said, 'I'm a vampire.'

Everyone stared at him in confusion, wondering if he was bluffing, and the one who had been reading got an odd, steely look to his face that no eleven year-old should rightly have - but Black opened one eye and grinned, and they knew it to be a joke.

He leaned sideways, snatching the book out of the boy's hands and opening the front cover. 'Remus Lupin,' he read aloud, then looked at the boy who snatched his book back. 'What kinda name is that?'

'_Serious_ly,' was the first word out of the round-faced one's grinning mouth. Sirius scowled at him. James sniggered. The Black boy tried a scathing retort, but not well-versed in the art of comebacks (as a first year, and all) it turned into a quite messy bumbling of words. Everyone started to snigger.

Eventually, Sirius joined in, too.

The round-faced boy, whose said face was previously an odd mixture of flush and paleness, slowly got a more even tone to his skin as he told James Potter that his name was Peter Pettigrew and, yes, he was a first year as well and could he please have a Cauldron Cake?

(He was inwardly happy when James handed one over without grudging hesitation and the feeling was sweeter than the cake.)

(And Peter was happier when Sirius finally took his feet off of the extra seat and gestured for him to sit there.)

Being first years with all that they have heard about Hogwarts being rumors (told by Sirius who said that a cousin said that the Slytherin house had the smartest students and was the top house), or little leave-out-the-bad-stuff tidbits reminisced by parents, they started a conversation on the school. ('It says that the ceilings are invisible!' said Remus Lupin excitedly.)

James Potter attempted to start an argument with Sirius on the Slytherin question, but Sirius shrugged it off and said out loud that he was just the messenger and his cousin was a _girl_ anyway. That explained everything, of course.

Hours passed and the boys opened up a tiny bit more; all of them were only children, except Black who had a younger brother. Peter remarked that Sirius was once again the 'odd one out'. Two had black hair, one had brown, and one had blonde. They all had summer birthdays, each within one week of another. Two of them flew broomsticks and the other two _hated_ degnoming their gardens. Sirius hated to share and only gave away one Chocolate Frog to Remus because Lupin's only alternative was a turkey sandwich and Sirius disliked turkey.

It was a rather productive train ride, all in all.

And the train stopped, and they stood up and stretched and pulled on their school robes, and the four strangers who had entered compartment number twenty-nine left as four friends.

**The Beginning**

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_run-ons were intentional. sorry if it was sort of confusing._

_i still love it, though. :D_


End file.
